In the drilling and completion industry and for example in hydrocarbon exploration and recovery operations, efforts to improve production efficiency and increase output are ongoing. Some such efforts include utilizing and improving techniques for preventing undesirable solids from entering a tubing string. Such solids, often referred to collectively as “sand”, can pose problems by reducing production efficiency, increasing production costs and wearing and/or damaging both downhole and surface components, for example.
Downhole screens are often employed for filtering formation fluid as it enters a tubing string to prevent entry of unwanted solids, such as sand packed or gravel packed screens. Many screening techniques fall short of efficiency and production expectations, especially in applications where boreholes are non-uniform and in formations that produce large amounts of sand during hydrocarbon production operations.